Mariano Ryan
08/08/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 08/08/2021 11:19
They are the three legs of sport.
On one side are the athletes;
on the other, the coaches;
and at the other vertex of the triangle, between them, are
the leaders.
Which are
almost always beaten and hardly ever recognized.
Those who are always targeted when the results do not appear, a place is not in a position to train, a trip is frustrated or a scholarship is not charged;
and those who are not thanked a little when the hand is sweet (and they had something to do with that, of course).
It is true that Argentina
suffers from a serious sports leadership
in general lines and that this deficit
is gigantic
in times of the Olympic Games, when the miseries always come to light.
One of the main debts of the national sport is the
little influence
in the great decisions of the international federations, for example.
And this is due, in large part, to the fact that
very few hold relevant positions in them
.
Today there are only eight that appear in the sports of the Olympic program.
Argentina celebrates in volleyball.
In each Olympic Game the magnifying glass is put on the sports deficiencies of the country.
AP Photo / Frank Augstein
The list is made up of
José García Maañon
, first vice president of the World Karate Federation;
Alberto Budeisky
, member of the Executive Board of the International Hockey Federation;
Cecilia Farías
, vice president of the International Canoeing Federation;
Néstor Tenca
, Executive Vice President of the International Table Tennis Federation;
Oscar Cassinerio
, Director of Development (America) of the International Judo Federation;
Jorge Orencio Salas
, member of the Executive Board of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon;
Fernando Aguerre
, president of the International Surf Association; and
Víctor Groupierre
, Member of the Commission of the International Fencing Federation.
There are no ex-athletes on the payroll, for example.
On the other hand, in the national associations the names of
Agustín Calleri
(tennis),
Gabriel Curuchet
(cycling) and
Fernando Terrilli
(swimming)
appear as presidents
.
There are three exes.
It could
- and should -
be several more.
The ex-cyclist
Juan Curuchet
, Olympic champion in Beijing 2008 and with extensive experience in high performance (he was in six Games, no less), warned before Tokyo 2020 that “athletes must have, I am not saying a majority, but a great percentage in the Executive Table of the Argentine Olympic Committee, which is where the decisions of the sport are made ".
And he reinforces: "In that place there
must be athletes
, recently retired and updated, who know the needs that athletes have. That they can transmit to the leaders who are older and who, possibly,
are not at the level of the athletes
in as for preparations or travel
.
"
Curuchet, then, completes: "There
has to be a mix
between ex-athletes who have the will, the desire and the decision to be in a place that takes their times, mixed with the experience of leaders who have years of management. But it is clear that no one should perpetuate themselves in office ".
Juan Curuchet.
Photo Gustavo Ortiz.
The point is that ex-athletes
do not like to enter the world of leadership
even after their criticism.
And why does that happen?
When the athlete retires he has two paths: either he leaves the sport or he remains involved as a coach, referee or leader.
But the leadership is amateur and then most of them turn to training.
And how did those Argentine leaders get to the international federations?
They do so supported by a good financial spending of their own
.
Do they live off those federations?
Do not;
on average they only charge about 80 euros per day for travel expenses when they travel to a tournament or a congress.
"Sports leaders
do not have any kind of support from their national federations
to participate in international activities as happens in other countries," explains Groupierre, one of the leaders with more experience.
“Outside they are
supported by their sports and government structures
to have that presence.
It is clear that the more leaders there are at the international level, the better the performance of our athletes will be because we are going to get more support and more skills in our country, for example ”, he stated.
In some national universities there is a degree in Sports Management that allows preparing future leaders.
Few know of its existence ...
Look also
Tokyo 2020: Artur Naifónov, the medalist who was hostage in the Russian Beslan massacre and saw his mother die
Tokyo 2020: Eliud Kipchoge won the marathon and Eulalio Muñoz made history for Argentina